Latest From California Healthline:

Starting in less than two years, if state hospitals haven't met targets for performance of C-sections, medical imaging and opioid prescription, they'll risk being excluded from the "in-network" designation of health plans sold on the state's insurance exchange. (April Dembosky, KQED,
5/24)

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The earliest complaint shared with the Los Angeles Times dates to 1991 — two years after Dr. George Tyndall joined the clinic staff. "They missed an opportunity to save a lot of other women from his mistreatment," said Alexis Rodriguez, a former patient.

Los Angeles Times:
Students Warned USC About Gynecologist Early In His Career: ‘They Missed An Opportunity To Save A Lot Of Other Women’
After an appointment with Dr. George Tyndall in 1995, USC undergraduate Alexis Rodriguez wrote a letter of complaint on a typewriter in the English department. The gynecologist, she recalled writing, had a Playboy magazine on his desk, used a scalpel on a vaginal abscess without anesthetic and, when she objected, marked her chart with the word "difficult." A student health clinic administrator sent back a letter, apologizing and pledging to remove the notation from her chart, Rodriguez said. It would be 21 years before the university forced Tyndall out of the clinic. (Ryan and Hamilton, 5/23)

The Washington Post:
Pressure Mounts On USC President To Resign After Scandals
On Wednesday, the executive committee of the board of trustees announced it was appointing a special committee that would hire outside counsel to investigate the misconduct and reporting failures at USC. “The behavior exhibited by the former physician was reprehensible,” the trustees wrote, “and we will hold people accountable if we find they failed to report or take action to ensure the well-being and safety of patients and students. To those affected, we are deeply sorry.” The chairman of the board expressed strong support for the school’s president Tuesday. The trustees’ executive committee has full confidence in the “leadership, ethics and values” of USC President C.L. Max Nikias, the board’s chairman John Mork said in a statement, “and is certain that he will successfully guide our community forward.” (Svrluga, 5/23)

Reuters:
China Seeks Investigation Into University Of Southern California Abuse Accusations
The Chinese government has expressed "deep concern" over published reports that a University of Southern California gynecologist was allowed for years to treat students, many of them from China, despite accusations of sexual abuse and harassment. The Los Angeles Times reported this week that Dr. George Tyndall, 71, resigned from USC last year after an internal investigation at the university found he performed unnecessary or unprofessional physical exams and made inappropriate comments to some of the young women in his care. (Whitcomb, 5/23)

A judge ruled earlier this month that the state's aid-in-dying legislation was passed illegally because it didn't adhere to the topics of the special session where it was voted on.

The Associated Press:
No Stay Of Ruling That Tossed California Assisted-Death Law
An appeals court on Wednesday refused to block a court decision that said a California law allowing the terminally ill to end their lives was passed illegally. California's 4th District Court of Appeal refused to grant an immediate stay requested by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra. However, the court gave Becerra and other parties time to "show cause" — that is, provide more arguments as to why the court should grant the stay and suspend the lower court ruling. There was no immediate comment from Becerra's office. (5/23)

In other legislative news —

The Mercury News:
New California Laws Could Help Ex-Prisoners Get Better Paying Jobs
A package of bills making its way through the California legislature could change the career outlook for people like [Amika] Mota, who have gone through job training programs in prison but been denied access to higher paying jobs because their records prevent them from getting licensed. The bills would prohibit many state licensing boards — including those that oversee barbers, building contractors, paramedics and social workers — from using arrest or conviction records as the sole basis to deny professional licenses to applicants with nonviolent criminal arrests or convictions. (Sciacca, 5/23)

San Francisco Chronicle:
‘This Was Preventable’: Victim Asks How Berkeley Police Could Ignore Rape Evidence
Ann Reidy hadn’t planned to walk down Kains Avenue, but she found herself there staring at the apartments on the narrow street in Albany, trying to find the one where it happened. ... She’s speaking out now in part because state lawmakers are considering bills that would require that all rape kits be tested promptly and that authorities count the number of untested kits statewide. Both measures face critical votes Friday in the Legislature, and it’s unclear whether they will pass. (Gutierrez, 5/23)

But quitting rates overall were woefully low. Out of 6,006 smokers who enrolled in the trial, only 80 could provide biochemical evidence that they were smoke-free six months after their quit dates.

Los Angeles Times:
To Get Smokers To Quit, Money Works Better Than Electronic Cigarettes
When it comes to helping smokers quit, financial rewards are much more effective than electronic cigarettes. But the sad truth is that nothing works all that well, according to the results of a large clinical trial that tested five smoking-cessation strategies in real-world conditions. Out of 6,006 smokers who enrolled in the trial, only 80 could provide biochemical evidence that they were smoke-free six months after their quit dates. That's a success rate of just 1.3%. (Kaplan, 5/23)

In other public health news —

Los Angeles Times:
Can Simulating Evolution On A Computer Explain Our Enormous Brains?
Compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, the human brain is way out of whack.Our brains are roughly six times larger than what you would expect for a placental mammal of our stature, scientists say. And no other animal has a brain as large as ours relative to body size.So why did humans evolve to have such large brains when other animals did not? (Netburn, 5/23)

The San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Scientists Fight Latest Ebola Outbreak
As the latest African Ebola outbreak stirs worldwide concern, San Diego scientists are stepping in to help. Mapp Biopharmaceutical, maker of the experimental antibody drug ZMapp, is readying shipments to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, Ebola expert Erica Ollmann Saphire of The Scripps Research Institute is organizing donations of necessary lab supplies. Ollmann Saphire studies the structure of Ebola and has helped Mapp understand the structure of Ebola antibodies. As of Friday, 46 suspected, probably and confirmed Ebola cases have been reported, with 26 deaths. (Fikes, 5/23)

The California Health Report:
CDC Data Shows Children’s Dental Health Is Improving, But Barriers To Access Persist
New data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show’s children’s oral health has improved across the nation, but race-based gaps in the prevalence of dental cavities and their treatment persist. According to the CDC data, part of its National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, exactly half of the kids in the U.S. between the ages of 2 and 19 had dental cavities during the agency’s 2011-12 survey period. That dropped to 43.1 percent by 2015-16, an overall reduction of nearly 14 percent.The prevalence of untreated dental cavities also declined during this time, from 16.1 to 13 percent. State-specific data was not included in the report. (Shinkman, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times:
Researchers Tally The Physical And Financial Costs Of Opioid Painkillers' Side Effects
The opioid crisis has shown us that prescription painkillers and their illicit counterparts can wreak havoc in American communities. Now researchers have quantified the damage they can do inside hospitals when administered to patients following surgeries and other invasive medical procedures. More than 10% of hospitalized patients who took one or more opioid painkillers experienced a side effect tied to the drug, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Surgery. Fully 93% of these patients suffered at least one episode that was deemed moderate or severe. (Kaplan, 5/23)

Although research shows that up to 94 percent of children will "grow out" of their transgender identity, advocates say that those studies were flawed in the first place and shouldn't dictate how doctors care for young children who want to socially transition.

KQED:
The Controversial Research On 'Desistance' In Transgender Youth
The phenomenon of transgender children "growing out of" their transgender identity by the time they are adolescents or adults is called “desistance” by gender researchers. For decades, follow-up studies of transgender kids have shown that a substantial majority -- anywhere from 65 to 94 percent -- eventually ceased to identify as transgender. (Brooks, 5/23)

The Hill:
House Dems Urge Mulvaney To Reject Proposed Rollback Of Transgender Health Protections
A group of 127 House Democrats is calling on White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney to reject a proposal that would roll back ObamaCare’s anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients. The proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), currently being reviewed by OMB, is expected to be released later this summer. (Weixel, 5/23)

The research raises some possibilities, including biological and genetic ones, about why rates for white and Hispanic women born since the mid-1960s outpace men. Other reports look at bariatric surgery benefits and cancers linked to obesity.

The Washington Post:
Lung Cancer Rates In Younger White And Hispanic Women Surpass Those Of Men
Reversing a historic trend, rates of lung cancer among younger white and Hispanic women have surpassed those of men — and the change cannot be fully explained by gender differences in smoking behavior, researchers said Wednesday. Previous research pointed to shifts in the incidence of lung cancer, with rates creeping up among some groups of women. The new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the largest and most definitive on the topic and one that incorporates smoking patterns and tumor characteristics in its analysis, according to its authors. (McGinley, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times:
Weight-Loss Surgery Is Associated With A Reduced Risk Of Melanoma, Researchers Say
In addition to rapid and lasting weight loss and a passel of other health benefits, bariatric surgery has now been linked to a 61% reduction in the risk of developing malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer most closely associated with excessive sun exposure. The new research, to be presented Thursday at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna, Austria, also found that people who underwent weight-loss surgery saw their risk of skin cancer in general decline by 42%. (Healy, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times:
Obesity May Make Women More Vulnerable To A Host Of Cancers, Especially If They Gain Weight Quickly
Compared to women of normal weight, those with obesity are 24% more likely to develop one of a handful of cancers linked to the condition, and their chances of developing cancers of the kidney or endometrium were around twice as high as those of normal-weight women, new research has found. In a Norwegian study that tracked 137,205 women between 30 and 70 years old, researchers also found that those who gained more than 22 pounds over a period of five to eight years were nearly twice as likely as those who maintained a stable weight to develop pancreatic cancer. (Healy, 5/23)

The sweeping measure would allow veterans to see private doctors when they do not receive the treatment they expected. Critics say the measure goes too far toward privatized care, which could undermine the Veterans Affairs Department.

The New York Times:
Senate Sends Major Overhaul Of Veterans Health Care To Trump
The Senate gave final passage on Wednesday to a multibillion-dollar revamp of the veterans health care system, consolidating seven Veterans Affairs Department health programs into one and making it far easier for veterans to take their benefits to private doctors for care. The legislation, which passed 92 to 5, also expands popular stipends to family caregivers of veterans who served during the Vietnam War era or after. And it establishes a nine-member commission to study the department’s current infrastructure to determine where its health system should expand and contract. (Fandos, 5/23)

The Associated Press:
Bill Expanding Private Care For Veterans Goes To Trump
The sweeping measure would allow veterans to see private doctors when they do not receive the treatment they expected, with the approval of a Department of Veterans Affairs health provider. Veterans could access private care when they have endured lengthy wait times or VA medical centers do not offer the services they need. The bill's approval comes despite concerns from some Democrats that the effort would prove costly and be used too broadly by veterans in search of top-notch care even when the VA is able to provide treatment deemed sufficient for their needs. (5/24)

The Washington Post:
Congress Sends Massive Veterans Bill To Trump, Opening Door To More Private Health Care
About one-third of veterans in the system now see outside doctors through a program called “Choice,” which Congress hastily approved as a temporary remedy in response to the scandal. But the program — designed to serve the overflow at VA facilities both of aging Vietnam-era veterans and younger service members returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — is fragmented and unwieldy. Doctors have complained of slow or nonexistent payments, and veterans say there’s insurmountable red tape. (Rein, 5/23)

In total, the federal subsidies to help Americans pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act and other government programs are equivalent to about 3.4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Meanwhile, premiums are expected to rise an average of 15 percent next year and an additional three million will be uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Bloomberg:
It Costs $685 Billion A Year To Subsidize U.S. Health Insurance
It will cost the U.S. government almost $700 billion in subsidies this year help provide Americans under age 65 with health insurance through their jobs or in government-sponsored health programs, according to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The subsidies come from four main categories. About $296 billion is federal spending on programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which help insure low-income people. Almost as big are the tax write-offs that employers take for providing coverage to their workers. Medicare-eligible people, such as the disabled, account for $82 billion. Subsidies for Obamacare and for other individual coverage are the smallest segment, at $55 billion. (Ockerman, 5/23)

The Hill:
CBO: ObamaCare Premiums To Rise 15 Percent In 2019
ObamaCare premiums are expected to rise an average of 15 percent next year, an increase largely due to the GOP’s repeal of the law's individual mandate, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis released Wednesday. The CBO estimates that gutting the requirement that Americans have health insurance or face a tax penalty will contribute to about a 10 percent rise in premiums for 2019, with insurers expected to see healthier people dropping out of the marketplaces, leaving sicker enrollees on the plans. (Roubein, 5/23)

CQ:
CBO Projects Three Million More Uninsured People In 2019
An additional three million people will be uninsured next year largely because the requirement for most Americans to have health insurance coverage was effectively repealed, the Congressional Budget Office projected. A new report released Wednesday by the nonpartisan analysts estimates that premiums for benchmark plans sold on the marketplaces set up by the 2010 health care law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) will increase an average of 15 percent next year. Still, the analysts expect the individual insurance market to be stable in most parts of the country in 2019. (McIntire, 5/23)

In other national health care news —

The Washington Post:
Is It A Gag Rule? What The New Title X Family Planning Funding Rule Says.
The Trump administration has released the language of a proposed rule on federal family planning funding, and abortion rights activists are raising alarm about it. When health officials revealed Friday that they would be filing a change to which clinics would be eligible for funding, they emphasized that it was not a “gag rule.” Instead, they said they were proposing to strip away a current mandate. It requires organizations that receive Title X funding to counsel women about abortion and provide them with referrals to abortion services. Under the new rules, a provider wouldn't have to talk about abortion at all. (Cha, 5/23)

The New York Times:
First Cuba, Now China? An American Falls Ill After ‘Abnormal’ Sounds
An American government employee posted in southern China has signs of possible brain injury after reporting disturbing sounds and sensations, the State Department said on Wednesday, in events that seemed to draw parallels with mysterious ailments that struck American diplomats in Cuba. The State Department warning, issued through the United States Consulate in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, advised American citizens in China to seek medical help if they felt similar symptoms. But it said that no other cases had been reported. (Buckley and Harris, 5/23)

The New York Times:
Pompeo Says Mysterious Sickness Among Diplomats In Cuba Has Spread To China
“The medical indications are very similar and entirely consistent with the medical indications that have taken place to Americans working in Cuba,” Mr. Pompeo told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said medical teams were heading to Guangzhou to address what he described as one incident. “We are working to figure out what took place, both in Havana and now in China as well,” Mr. Pompeo said. (Harris, 5/23)

The Associated Press:
FDA Warns Teething Medicines Unsafe, Wants Them Off Shelves
Federal health officials warned parents Wednesday about the dangers of teething remedies that contain a popular numbing ingredient and asked manufacturers to stop selling their products intended for babies and toddlers. The Food and Drug Administration said that various gels and creams containing the drug benzocaine can cause rare but deadly side effects in children, especially those 2 years and younger. (5/23)

Stat:
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plants Are Sending Lots Of Medicine Into The Water Supply
Wastewater treatment plants that accept discharges from pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities send “substantially” higher concentrations of medicines into rivers and streams than treatment plants that do not take these discharges, according to the first study to examine the issue across the U.S. In reaching their conclusion, the study authors compared effluent — which is wastewater that is sent into rivers and other natural bodies of water — from 13 treatment plants that took pharmaceutical discharges and six plants that did not. They examined plants scattered among rural and urban locations around the country in order to compare plant sizes, varying climates, and technology used for treating wastewater. (Silverman, 5/23)